RUNNING HEAD: CONTROVERSIES OF BIRTH TOURISM Page 1

Definitional Argument

Controversies of Birth Tourism

Jessica Halley

Chandler-Gilbert Community College

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Before 2007, in America alone, there were an estimated 2.5 to 3.5 million people

homeless each year and this number has only risen (Foscarinis, 2012, par. 1). Now imagine, on

top of knowing how many established citizens already need help, birth tourism or travel from

one country to another for the purpose of giving birth in the second country, thereby endowing

the newborn child with citizenship of the second country (birth-tourism, yourdictionary.com), is

still very common. This is possible thanks to the 14th amendment of the constitution. Though

American citizens needs should take precedence over non-American citizens receiving

citizenship, American citizens should still be willing to help those from other countries. A

common ground should be met in order to accommodate both.

The majority of the world participates in birth tourism, though it raises the most

controversy in The United States. There are many American citizens who are against giving

citizenship to people from outside countries, especially when taking into consideration how

many Americans are already without healthcare, jobs, food, and/or are homeless or lacking a

place of residence (homeless, yourdictionary.com). The citizens who are against birth tourism

feel as though the homeless American citizens should be provided housing and better resources

before non-American citizens are given citizenship, housing, healthcare, etc.

It could be argued that noncitizens do not have the intentions of obtaining citizenship

simply for American healthcare and/or jobs. Some have hopes of making a better life for

themselves and their families and are legitimately hard workers. For example, there are doctors,

lawyers, teachers, etc. who have come to the United States from other countries and have worked

hard to establish a good life for themselves and their families, and a good reputation. Plenty of

individuals from other countries look to expand their education in America. There are also some

who may even go back to their home country while still maintaining their American citizenship
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in case it becomes needed in the future. This could be due to terrorist attacks a surprise attack

involving the deliberate use of violence against civilians in the hope of attaining political or

religious aims (terrorist attack, webster-dictionary.org), an example of this being the mass

shooting that occurred in Paris in 2016. These events make residents of that country feel unsafe,

causing them to want to relocate somewhere safer. Other reasons an individual could keep their

American citizenship on hand is if they become deathly ill and their country is not as advanced

in medicine as the United States are. There are a plethora of reasons one may need to leave their

country immediately.

While there are those individuals who have the best of intentions when looking to obtain

American citizenship, unfortunately there are some who take advantage of the many benefits

America has to offer. An example of this includes illegal birth tourism agencies. These

businesses are mainly in California and have had undercover investigations reveal that the

groups were evading taxes, encouraging women to lie to immigration officials and sometimes

defrauding hospitals (Sheehan, 2015, par. 4-5). The agencies located in California are majorly

known to home pregnant Chinese women and while no reliable data exists on the number of

Chinese births in the U.S, estimates by industry publications projected a total of 60,000 for

2014 (Sheehan, 2015, par. 6). Instances such as this, where individuals come from other

countries and participate in illegal acts, make it hard for American citizens to view birth tourism

as beneficial.

With this being said, Americans should also know that some of these women are having

their second child in America to avoid being punished for the one child policy, which limits

couples to one child and where fines, pressures to abort a pregnancy, and even forced

sterilization accompany second or subsequent pregnancies (Rosenberg, 2017, par. 1). However,
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it is not an all-encompassing rule because it has always been restricted to ethnic Han Chinese

living in urban areas. Citizens living in rural areas and minorities living in China are not subject

to the law (Rosenberg, 2017, par. 2-3). Imagine having to choose between giving up a child or

simply relocating in order to save them. Americans today are constantly having more and more

children, so if one of them were put in that position, they would more than likely relocate.

As for the established American citizens who need better accommodations, there are

numerous scenarios to take into consideration. Individuals from other countries may be the ones

who develop more housing and/or more jobs for these people and they may also be the ones who

come up with a plan to provide health care to the citizens who need it. Preventing noncitizens

from entering a country other than their own, could actually be preventing others, such as

homeless Americans, from a better chance at life. Something else to consider when an American

is upset with the idea of noncitizens being given attention prior to the established citizens is that

some of these established citizens may have already been given the opportunity to better their

life. They may have been offered a job and turned it down. They may have been offered help and

refused. You cant always help those who dont want to help themselves.

There are endless amounts of topics that could be argued when it comes to birth tourism,

especially since it is not something that just takes place in America. In fact there have recently

been petitions to remove the first section of the14th amendment which guarantees citizenship

to any and all persons born or naturalized in U.S. It also guarantees all Americans their

constitutional rights and denies states the right to limit those rights through legislation. It also

ensures a citizen's "life, liberty, or property" will not be denied without due legal process

(Kelly, 2017, Par. 9). Removing this section of the amendment would end birth tourism

altogether; however, these attempts have been unsuccessful.

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This being said, it would be unfair to say that all noncitizens simply are just looking for a

better chance at life, but it is fair to say that everyone should be given the chance to try. No one

country should be able to deny anyone that opportunity, especially if theyre willing to work hard

for it. Maybe the individual who is looking to better their life in America, is the one who will end

world hunger. Maybe theyll find a cure for cancer. Whos to say they wont find a solution to

homelessness or start a better healthcare system? If Americans tried a little harder to look at the

positive side at allowing others into the United States and imagining how life must feel from

their point of view, maybe they would start to be a little more understanding and accepting.

Maybe this would be the start of finding a common ground to accommodate both, established

citizens of America and noncitizens just entering the country.

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References:

Birth-tourism. (2017). Your Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.yourdictionary.com/birth-

tourism

Foscarinis, M. (2012). Homelessness in America: a human rights crisis. Journal of Law in Society.

Retrieved from:

http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.maricopa.edu/apps/doc/A312105447/AONE?u=mcc_main&si

d=AONE&xid=6c514fce

Homeless. (2017). Your Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.yourdictionary.com/homeless

Kelly, M. (2017). 14th Amendment Summary. Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/us-

constitution-14th-amendment-summary-105382

Rosenberg, M. (2017). Chinas One Child Policy. Retrieved from:

https://www.thoughtco.com/chinas-one-child-policy-1435466

Sheehan, M. (2015). Born In the USA: Why Chinese Birth Tourism Is Booming In California.

Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/01/china-us-birth-

tourism_n_7187180.html

Terrorist Attack. (2017). Webster Dictionary. Retried from: http://www.webster-

dictionary.org/definition/terrorist%20attack